


Memories Illuminated by Moonlight

by KimmyThain (KrystieT)



Series: Kimmy Thain's KamuNami Week Prompts [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Hajime and Izuru Twins AU, Hajime is a side character so I didn't tag him, Hopefully Chiaki is still in character?, Izuru is different from canon Izuru, Kamunami Week, Setting is during SDR2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 20:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9785228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrystieT/pseuds/KimmyThain
Summary: As he stares at the stars above the island, Izuru looks back at each time he'd seen that never-changing night sky.KamuNami Week Prompt 3: Stargazing





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is written very differently from my first story, but it's more my style to write in details instead of dialogue. Sorry if this bothers anyone!
> 
> This is set in an AU where Kamukura and Hinata are the Kamukura brothers (Izuru and Hajime Kamukura). This story takes place during SDR2. I'm basing this off of the English localization of the game, so I use first names and Ultimate titles.
> 
> Izuru in this AU is not the same as he is in canon since he had a relatively normal life. He's the quieter younger brother who has more emotions than in canon, but is just usually really good at hiding them and feigning indifference. He looks like the Beta Hajime that Kiibo seems to have been designed from, except with red eyes (just contacts).
> 
> Don't worry, even though it's a twin AU, it's still primarily a KamuNami fanfic! Hajime's more of an important side character, so I didn't include his official tag.

Izuru remembered the first night that they spent on this island well. It was calm and cool. He and his brother just stood there by the pool, watching the night sky as they heard the distant sound of waves crashing into the beach. If it weren't for the situation they were in, if it weren't for the fearful thoughts that gripped them both, Izuru was sure that such a memory would have been a happy one. However, the night sky back then had been nothing but unsettling. It was almost as unsettling as it was tonight.

No, Izuru didn't want to remember that. He let his thoughts drift back to the night of the party.

 

Izuru hated large social functions, much more than his brother did, and the party was sure to be too much excitement for him. So, as soon as the opportunity presented himself to leave without defying Byakuya's orders, he took it. Chiaki had offered to help guard the front door. Apparently, she thought it would be a good idea to ask Monomi to help keep Monokuma at bay. Izuru was quick to refute her idea that Monomi, who had been easily defeated by Monokuma, could keep him busy for long by herself. He offered to help guard the party with her so that, if things got dangerous, he could keep Monokuma distracted long enough for her to escape and warn the others. Before she or anyone else could protest, Hajime took his side (knowing just how much Izuru hated social interaction) and reassured everyone that he knew his brother was really smart and could probably find a way to distract Monokuma without putting himself in any danger.

With that, Chiaki and Izuru took some food and left for the main door to the old building. Once outside, Chiaki called out to Monomi and Izuru tuned them out as she told her about their plans. Monomi left excitedly and Chiaki explained that Monomi apparently had magic powers that can let her appear wherever she wants to. She was going to watch from afar so that maybe her appearance would surprise Monokuma enough for Chiaki and Izuru to warn the others. He decided not to comment.

They'd sat down on the steps and silently ate their dinner. Any other person would have probably found this situation awkward. Izuru just didn't care, and Chiaki didn't seem to either. They stayed there in silence, scanning the scene before them, everything illuminated by the moon. Not too long afterwards, they spotted Fuyuhiko.

"Hey, hey, isn't that Fuyuhiko?" Chiaki asked rhetorically. She got up from her seat to greet him. Izuru remained seated as Kuzuryu came up to them.

He let Chiaki do the talking, but conversation was cut short as soon as Chiaki asked if Fuyuhiko _actually_ wanted to join the party despite his denial. Needless to say, Fuyuhiko denied the very fact and left in a storm. It was an interesting turn of events.

"Hm, I wonder if I said something wrong?" asked Chiaki, turning herself around to face Izuru. He shook his head.

"No, it's not that what you said was false," he replied. "I do not doubt that it was just as you said. He did come here because he wanted to join the party. At the same time, he didn't actually want to join the party. He feels that it is more important to uphold his image. As expected of the Ultimate Gangster, of course."

"Yeah, you're right… I think," said Chiaki. She sat herself back down and they resumed their watch. Somehow, it felt a little different this time. Unfortunately, their peaceful night had been disrupted. That night, Togami had been killed. He was murdered. Izuru and Chiaki worked together to investigate a bit, though they couldn't contribute much more than their own testimony since they technically didn't attend the party. Then there was the class trial. Teruteru was found to be the murder and then his execution-

Execution… execution…

No, Izuru didn't want to think about that, anymore.

 

Izuru looked out at his surroundings. That's right, he decided to leave his brother alone in the cottage and wandered off. He landed up at Jabberwock Park. This wasn't the first time he did this, either.

Izuru remembers the night Monokuma revealed his second motive. Although most of his classmates seemed to agree not to play the game, Izuru wasn't so sure. He'd tried to convince them that if they all played the game, they'd understand why it was a motive and figure out who would be the culprit. It would have possibly prevented a murder from happening if they could confront the intended culprit. Unfortunately, each of them had a subconscious fear that the motive was meant for them, and that they would either become a killer or a victim. Most unfortunately, it didn't look like his brother wanted to agree with him, either. And so, everyone left Jabberwock Park and returned to their cottages.

Izuru couldn't help but wonder if the game was meant for him or his brother, or worse, it would be something that would make them targets. After a few hours trying and failing to fall asleep, Izuru carefully got up from the bed he shared with Hajime. He was very tired of being tired, so he decided to take a walk and let his feet take him wherever. It made sense that they'd go straight to the origin of his worries.

He had landed up in Jabberwock Park while staring up at the stars and the full moon.  He actually wasn't trying to go straight for the game, but since he was here, he might as well play it. As he walked up to the machine, a voice called out behind him.

"Izuru?"

He turned his head around. There was Chiaki Nanami. Somehow, Izuru wasn't surprised.

"Chiaki," he answered back. He completely turned to face her.

"I saw you leave the cottage and followed you here," she stated nonchalantly. Her hands were loosely gripping the straps of her backpack and from her relaxed posture, he knew she wasn't accusing him of anything. She tilted her head slightly to the side and asked "Did you come here to play the game, too?"

Izuru looked back at the game. "I stand by what I said before. Not playing the game is more dangerous to us all. Monokuma has given us this motive for a reason."

When he looked back, Chiaki was giving him a soft smile.

"Yeah, that's how I feel, too," she says, her hand moving over her heart. "Hey, hey, Izuru, would you like to play the game together? If the both of us play the game, then it should be okay. If the motive was meant for either of us, then we'll be able to stop the other person immediately… I think."

Izuru nodded his head in agreement. He didn't see any problems with that. Sometimes when he and Hajime visited the arcade, they'd take turns playing on the single player games. It shouldn't be any different this time. Besides, it probably was better that she was there with him. He was fairly certain that if the game was about him, he could convince himself not to do anything. He cared about his brother more than his own reputation. However, he was not so certain that he'd think so rationally if the motive was for Hajime or endangered Hajime in any way. He'd do anything to make sure his brother left the island unharmed, so there was a high chance he'd take the opportunity to help his brother. However, with Chiaki here, he'd probably be stopped. She'd be a witness he wouldn't be able to kill. Her being there would stop him from doing something he would ultimately regret.

They both stepped up to the game and began. As they played, Chiaki read off the dialogue and they each took turns with the controls even if there wasn't much to do anyways. The game was… boring, to say the least. When they got to the ending, both of them stared at the screen for a while. Chiaki looked up to Izuru to say something, but then she stopped. Izuru turned to face her when he heard her giggle.

Chiaki smiled at him and said, "I'm sorry. I don't think I've ever seen you make a face like that. This game wasn't very good, was it?" He suddenly felt embarrassed and turned his head back to the screen.

"That was a waste of time," he started, "It didn't make any-" He interrupted himself when he saw the screen change.

""Down Five"" they read together. They exchanged glances, then wordlessly turned back to the screen as Izuru pressed the down arrow five times. They continued to play to the True Ending. While the game mechanics were just as bad, the new scenes presented were interesting. They waited until the credits rolled and revealed the names of the actors. Izuru supposed he shouldn't have been too surprised that Monokuma listed the names of their classmates. When it got to the last name, however…

"Hey, that's-"

"Kuzuryu." Izuru tried to come up with just what this meant.

"And it's listed twice," said Chiaki softly. Yes, and so that meant that the Girl that died on Day 1 was actually-

It seemed the both of them were aware what this meant. They discussed all the pieces. It soon became clear who the intended murderer and victim were. However, even though they now knew _who_ this was aimed at, there was still a problem. They couldn't tell anybody they'd played the game. No one would trust them. They could still try to stop it, though.

Chiaki and Izuru walked back to the cottages after agreeing to try to talk to Fuyuhiko and Mahiru the next day.

Unfortunately, despite having split up and looking all over the two islands, they couldn't find either of them. That night, Izuru slept off his exhaustion from not having slept well the previous night and running all over the island. The day after that, Mahiru was dead. Their plan failed. They helped Hajime with his investigation. However, even with all the clues they could gather, there were multiple things off about this case. Then there was that confusing class trial, and Peko was revealed to be the murderer. However, what shocked Izuru the most was the reveal that Peko and Fuyuhiko actually knew each other. Then Peko's execution that Fuyuhiko tried to stop-

…

……

………………

…………………………………… 

.

. 

. 

. 

STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP _-_

He breathed in, having not known that he'd stopped breathing in the first place.

Tears were welling up in Izuru's eyes. He couldn't save her. There was no use in trying to distract himself. There was no point to trying to forget.

 

He wanted to deny it happened. He wanted to think that she was still there. After that second trial, he spent as much free time with her as possible. Sometimes, she'd talk him into playing weird games, like that one time she took him to the storage closet to play real-life Sokoban. Other times, he'd tell her stories about him and his brother, about how they got to be so close. However, his favorite times had been when they'd just sat down and he'd watch her play her GameGirl until the night sky was filled with stars.

He remembered other things, too. When he succumbed to the Despair Disease, she had stayed behind with Fuyuhiko and his brother and kept talking to him and changing the towel on his forehead despite the cold anger that inexplicably took over him. When he and Hajime lost the game of Rock-Paper-Scissors in the Fun House, she was the first to offer them rooms in Grape House, and the first to defend them when they were accused of being the traitor. When Nagito had suddenly appeared in Grape House, when he was supposed to be locked in Strawberry House, and began looking down at both him and Hajime for being Reserve Course students, she'd been the one to interrupt him after seeing how his words had effected them.

From the beginning, she'd been helping him during each investigation. They had gotten so close in this short time, and understood each other so well. He hugged his knees tighter, eyes staring up at the stars again, as the memories kept pouring in. When he, Hajime, and Chiaki went to visit Nagito's room, he was quickly able to piece together just what happened, and how horrifying it was. He would have told Hajime sooner, except he wanted to know what was in that pink box. When he saw the journal, he knew that was Chiaki's writing. It was a good thing he hid his emotions well.

That last class trial had tortured him so much. Throughout the trial, he knew exactly what to expect. It just hurt him more. He pretended not to know Nagito's true goal, but even though the others didn't see through his lies, Hajime and Chiaki both sensed something was wrong. He gave away a few hints about it when they started to push him, and once they all figured out that Nagito's death wasn't a suicide, but a well-planned unintentional murder, they seemed to have believed that this was the reason he'd been so uncooperative.

Of course, once Hajime had summed up everything they knew about this case, Chiaki was the first to figure it out. And, if he was reading her expression properly, she also quickly realized the _real_ reason he'd been so devastated. When she looked at his brother and dropped hints at her involvement in this case, Izuru turned to look at him, too. He could see Hajime piecing it all together, and from his face he figured it out all too soon. The three of them knew just what would happen next. Chiaki laid down the bricks on the road leading to her own demise, and had begged them both to help her. Hearts heavy, the brothers helped the others make it impossible to doubt that the traitor was Chiaki. It had hurt.

He knew in his mind that it wasn't his fault. He'd hit the button because she begged him to. It hurt, so much, that after coming to be so close to her, he had to choose the option that killed her.

Izuru finally let the tears spill, his eyes still wide. He remembered her execution. She'd tried to survive, even, tried to run away. It was futile, and she accepted it in the end. But Izuru still couldn't accept it. He hadn't even realized he'd been on his knees when it ended.

He doesn't remember much about what happened after. Both he and Hajime had been so numb after coming back from the trial. They hadn't even realized when they'd gone back to the cottage and crashed into the bed, holding each other tightly. They'd spent all night and all the following day like that.

Izuru doesn't really know why he did it, but he had gotten out of bed that night. His brother was still asleep when he'd left the cottage. He'd let his feet take him wherever. He had landed up in Jabberwock Park while staring up at the stars and the full moon. When he got there, he'd sat down where the game used to be, knees bent towards his chest as he looked up at the stars in the sky.

He couldn't look at them any longer. He finally let his head rest on his knees. She wasn't going to come back, and he knew it. The tears eventually stopped. He stayed like that for a while.

 

Arms wrapped around him tightly. When he looked up, he saw his brother's brown hair. He moved his knees away and let his brother hold him properly.

As night was beginning to slip into dawn, Hajime spoke up.

"Izuru… I'm really sorry," he spoke softly, grief dripping with each uttered word. "Chiaki, she… I know that you really…" It seemed like he wasn't able to say the words he wanted to say.

"Thank you, Hajime." That was all Izuru said as he stood up, his brother standing up with him. Just by looking into his eyes, he knew what Hajime meant. They slowly walked back to their cottage, the only sounds to be heard was that of the waves crashing on the beach.

 

A few hours later, they woke up in a panic. For some reason they had a feeling that everyone else was gone. Nothing felt real. Hajime rushed out of the cottage, screaming in his panic. Izuru followed behind him quickly. As Hajime opened the door, Izuru suddenly felt strange, like something was missing. Did he forget something?

Outside, Chiaki Nanami was there, waiting for him.

"Ah, Izuru, Hajime. Good timing," Chiaki greeted them with a smile, her head tilted to the side. Something felt off. Why did it feel off? He heard his brother mumble something beside him.

She continued, "Remember Nagito's video message that we found at the factory? Apparently there was more to that message inside that laptop. We weren't able to see it until a day or so had passed. Apparently it was locked by a timer. Did he… set it up so we wouldn't be able to watch it until after the class trial?"

"Why would he do that?" his brother asked curiously.

"Maybe… Nagito planned to leave this as a will," she answered. "We were just planning to meet at the restaurant and watch it together."

Izuru nodded as Hajime verbally confirmed they'd be there. And with that, Chiaki gave a smile to her brother, then one to him, before finally placing her hands on the straps of her backpack and turning around to walk to the restaurant.

Izuru still felt something was off. The dazed look on his brother's face meant he probably felt it too. Yet, when Chiaki had smiled at them, his heart had fluttered a bit and he decided that whatever it was he was feeling probably wasn't important.

"Hajime, let's go," Izuru said softly. He lightly tugged at Hajime's elbow.

"Ah… right. Yeah, let's go," he replied. The brothers followed after Chiaki to the restaurant, discomfort from earlier forgotten.

Yeah, everything was going to be fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> This was written all in one sitting, so I'm sure there were mistakes and probably a few plot holes. Ah well, Danganronpa canon has its plotholes and grammar/spelling issues as well! Hope you liked it anyways!
> 
> Notes on this story:  
> -Logically speaking, the full moon is there twice when it shouldn't be and no one picks up on it. This is because this is the Neo World Program and a lot of things don't make logical sense, such as the same weather each day, Nekomaru surviving by becoming a robot, a chicken was turned into a cow, and of course the very fact they were transported to an island right from their classroom. Having a full moon every night is impossible, but it makes sense in the NWP that it'd be there without them questioning it for too long.  
> -When Hajime is defending Izuru at the party, he doesn't sound very convincing. He's awkwardly trying to help his brother out and coming up with excuses since he knows how much Izuru loathes large social gatherings. Why isn't he worried? Izuru's the protector of the two physically. He knows his brother can handle it. Hajime helps Izuru out of social situations, or eases him into them when he's ready.  
> -Izuru is very smart, but also very introverted. So, he lets Hajime do all the talking in the trials and provides him with clues when he looks like he's struggling. Think of him as the Fourth Trial Point Getter.  
> -"She'd be a witness he wouldn't be able to kill." You can interpret that as you wish.  
> -Hajime, of course, was a bit annoyed that Izuru'd gone out to play the game without him and he hadn't said a word. Izuru shut him up by mentioning that Hajime'd done the exact same thing the next night.  
> -You can tell I rushed it at the end, but that was slightly on purpose. Izuru wanted to remember the sweet times with Nanami, but in his grief he goes by it too quickly. I describe the last trial a bit more prolonged than that mess of memories because it's the reason for his grief. He treasured their first "actual" interaction (with the game) a lot more than the first interaction alone together, so it's a bit longer. Still, he savors those two moments a LOT, so he spends more time on them than any other memory.  
> -Hajime and Izuru are especially close in this AU due to the neglect of their parents and also the bullying they faced in school as the faculty turned a blind eye. They could only trust each other, and in times of stress they turn to each other for comfort. I don't know how realistic it is for them to hug, but they only do it twice in this story, and only after losing someone that was very special to them. Besides, this time they aren't an only child. The dynamic and reactions are going to be different! (Although, I do still fear it's a bit too different and out of character, especially with Izuru since his brother doesn't appear too much)  
> -The last things said by Chiaki (and Hajime) was taken directly from the game itself for authenticity. I didn't write any of that! I literally copied it straight from the game, taking out some of the interjections Hajime made that I could do without for the purposes of this story.
> 
> Here's some more things I've come up with for this twins AU that isn't too relevant to this story:  
> -Obviously, in this AU, Izuru fell for Chiaki and his brother didn't, but Hajime found her to be a great ally and friend and let the two spend as much time as possible together without being pushy about it.  
> -Both Kamukuras were enrolled into Hope's Peak as Reserve Course students.  
> -Because they were directly related to Izuru Kamukura, the First, they didn't have to pay any high fees.  
> -Izuru, and not Hajime, went through the Hope Cultivation Project. Why did he agree??? I don't know, haha. Haven't figured it out yet, but it does have to be Izuru and not Hajime. No, Hajime isn't dead or an AI.
> 
> I'm probably not gonna do more with this AU, so you can come up with the rest if you want to! Or maybe message me about it if you want to know more about what I came up with, haha. I obviously don't have a complete story, though; it kind of just came to me because of this prompt and because I liked the idea.
> 
> This was written for my own fun, and since the other story I posted hasn't gotten a bad reception (as in no one said they hated it yet), I thought I might as well try this one, too! I'm a little more confident in this one, mostly because the dialogue is much less, haha. Hopefully it came out okay!
> 
> My inspiration for this story comes from 'Yin and Yang of Despair' by kittyissac on AO3, 'What Is It Meant To Coexist In Harmony?' by Tiashe_Silverfox on AO3, and kuri-s's Twins AU on Tumblr. I liked the stories in all of them! I really love the Izuru and Hajime twins idea, and it's because of these stories!


End file.
